"Nine-thousand-year-old Golden Bamboo. Excellent material for refining an Array Base."

Mo Qi ignored the Spirit Protection Array, placing over a dozen stalks of Golden Bamboo, each as thick as a bowl, into the Chaos Scripture’s space. While he was at it, he also dug up seven bamboo shoots.

"Bamboo shoots with beef, simmered in a pot of rich broth, would taste absolutely delicious."

Mo Qi nudged the Pig Emperor. "Don’t just look for Spirit Medicine. Demon Beasts are good too, especially the avian ones—the kind that can lay eggs. Then we can make a dish of braised eggs with bamboo shoots."

The Pig Emperor nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, almost drooling.

It pointed to the side. "That way, about three kilometers out, there’s a chicken coop. If my senses aren’t mistaken, it should be a Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken."

Chaos Scripture: Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken. A growth-type Demon Beast possessing extremely high intelligence and incredible speed, but lacking in combat power. Its flesh is plump and delicious, a great tonic, and an exceptionally rare and precious ingredient!

After reading the Chaos Scripture’s description, Mo Qi was slightly stunned, then overjoyed.

’It was born to be food!’

’Such a magical chicken actually exists in the world?!’

’I absolutely can’t miss this!’

He immediately rushed off at full speed in the direction the Pig Emperor had pointed.

The old man hiding in the shadows scratched his head. For some reason, seeing Mo Qi’s excited smile gave him a feeling of unease.

Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor were communicating via telepathy. Although the old man was powerful, he wasn’t yet strong enough to silently read others’ thoughts.

So he didn’t know what Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor had said, only that the man and the pig exchanged a look and left in a hurry.

The old man stared at the holes in the ground left by Mo Qi uprooting the Golden Bamboo and was lost in thought for a moment.

’The Spirit Protection Array is functioning normally. It hasn’t been damaged or breached, so why is it completely ineffective against that kid?’

Once could be an accident or a coincidence, but twice... that couldn’t be explained away so easily.

’I’d really like to see what other tricks this kid has up his sleeve!’

While he was pondering this, Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor had already arrived at their destination.

When they saw the coop and the so-called Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken, they were dumbfounded.

It was a chicken that was fat and round, featherless, with splotches of black and white on its bumpy, uneven skin—a Scab Chicken.

Its comb was small and pale. Forget blood-red, it wasn’t even pink.

"This is a Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken?!"

Mo Qi simply couldn’t associate the Scab Chicken before him with the word "exquisite."

If the Chaos Scripture hadn’t indicated that this was indeed a Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken, Mo Qi would have already turned around and left.

"Oh ho, someone’s finally here?!"

Seeing Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor, not only was the Scab Chicken unafraid, it even spoke in a human tongue, flapping its wings excitedly as it ran, flew, and glided over.

However, it stopped more than a hundred meters away from Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor.

Mo Qi could tell that it wasn’t that the Scab Chicken wanted to stop, but that it seemed to be under some kind of restriction, unable to get any closer.

"Hey, you! Stop staring, I’m talking to you, you dumb-looking kid, and that stupid pig! Hurry over to this old ancestor. I have a heaven-sent opportunity to bestow upon you. Why aren’t you kneeling in thanks yet?!"

The Scab Chicken crossed its wings over its chest, stuck out its long, thin neck, and tilted its head up with a look that screamed "I’m the shit."

But paired with its featherless, bald appearance, it just looked comical.

"Mo the kid, this chicken can actually talk!" the Pig Emperor exclaimed, its face full of shock.

Mo Qi rolled his eyes. ’Isn’t it normal for a Demon Beast to talk?’

He said nonchalantly, "So what if it can talk?"

The Pig Emperor took a deep breath and shook its head. "It’s different. Although the Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken has a domineering name, in some respects, it can’t be considered a Demon Beast. It’s more like an ordinary wild fowl."

"It’s just that its meat is so delicious that even Immortals can’t resist the temptation. Add to that its gorgeous appearance and high intelligence, and that’s how it got the fine-sounding name ’Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken.’"

Mo Qi: "Hold on! Let’s put everything else aside for a moment. This ’gorgeous appearance’... are you sure?"

’Since when could a featherless scab be called gorgeous?’

The Pig Emperor, with a rare, serious expression, continued, "I don’t know what happened to this chicken, but a wild fowl is still a wild fowl. No matter how high its intelligence, it shouldn’t be able to speak human language. However..."

"However what?" Mo Qi asked.

"However, legends say that under certain conditions, a Blood Crowned Exquisite Chicken can undergo a transformation once every thousand years. It slowly transforms from a One-Treasure Exquisite Chicken to a Nine Treasures Exquisite Chicken, a process that takes a full nine thousand years!"

"And once it transforms into a Nine Treasures Exquisite Chicken, it gains the ability to speak, and can even take on a human form."

Hearing the Pig Emperor’s explanation, Mo Qi subconsciously glanced at the Scab Chicken.

’Could it be that this chicken has already lived for nine thousand years?’

’Impossible!’

’Even an Immortal has a lifespan of only ten thousand years. How could a chicken with no Cultivation possibly live that long!’

Just as Mo Qi was feeling puzzled, the Chaos Scripture provided the answer: This chicken’s bone age is 37,532 years. It has undergone thirty-seven transformations. Due to special circumstances, the transformations were incomplete, resulting in a mutation of its body.

Mo Qi: "..."

’Thirty-seven thousand, five hundred and thirty-two years!!!’

’Thirty-seven transformations?!’

’A Thirty-Seven Treasures Exquisite Chicken?!’

’My god, what kind of monster have I run into?!’

’Even an Immortal who’s achieved the Venerable Level can’t live for over thirty thousand years!’

’And what the hell is this "bodily mutation"?’

When Mo Qi told the Pig Emperor the information from the Chaos Scripture, the Pig Emperor was also shocked.

It had just been speculating that this chicken might have undergone nine transformations, making it an old monster that had lived for nearly ten thousand years.

It never imagined—it wasn’t just ten thousand years, but over thirty thousand!

What a terrifying length of time!

"I said, what’s wrong with you, you dumb-looking kid? And you, stupid pig! This old ancestor is being merciful and offering you a great opportunity, so what are you standing around gawking for? Get over here, now!" the Scab Chicken suddenly roared in a grating voice, its tone agitated.

Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor exchanged a look.

"Chaos Scripture, what’s this chicken’s Cultivation?" Mo Qi asked inwardly.

Chaos Scripture: No Cultivation, no combat power, no defense. However, its Life Force is tenacious, making it nearly Undying.

Hm?

Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor exchanged another look.

It seemed this Scab Chicken that had lived for over thirty thousand years was not only a top-tier specimen, but also a total weirdo.

"Mo the kid, this Scab Chicken called you a dumb-looking kid."

"Heh, stupid pig, what do you say?"

"What else is there to say? Let’s rough it up!"

And so, Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor strode forward, walking toward the Scab Chicken with sinister smiles.

The Scab Chicken was overjoyed, roaring internally, ’Haha, they’re coming! They’re coming! I can finally break free!’

In the shadows, the old man stared at the Scab Chicken for a long time, as if trying to recall something.

Suddenly, the old man slapped his forehead. "Holy shit, isn’t that the damn chicken I brought from home? It’s been over thirty thousand years, and it’s still alive?!"